Rekindled Flame
by WorryLessSufferLess
Summary: Alice Reed and Charlie Weasley used to be inseparable at Hogwarts but now they're practically strangers. What will happen when Alice is sent to Romania to recruit Charlie for the Order of the Phoenix?
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Charlie Weasley is such an underappreciated character so I decided to give him some love.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters and places associated with the story. I'm only responsible for my original character Alice Reed.

 **Chapter 1**

"Alice, we'll need you to go to Romania and speak to Charlie Weasley about joining the Order." Dumbledore's bright blue eyes gazed at her.

The name of her old friend surprised her. Alice and Charlie had been best friends during their time at Hogwarts. They met on their first ride on the Hogwarts Express and had been inseparable from that moment moving forward. One was rarely seen without the other. But that had been years ago. After leaving school Charlie went off to Romania to work with dragons and Alice went on to become an Auror. At first, they kept in touch, sending owls to each other nearly every day and occasionally speaking over the floo network, but as time went on Charlie gained more responsibilities at the dragon sanctuary and Alice moved up in ranks in the Auror department which led to their communications becoming less frequent until they finally stopped keeping in contact at all.

"Yes of course" Alice agreed.

"If he agrees to join, bring him back here. We need extra help with following possible death eaters here in England. Once we get enough information, or more members he'll be able to go back to Romania and work on recruiting foreign wizards over there. Explain to him that he won't have to leave his position permanently. This may help to get him to join. I'll explain what he'll be doing in more detail once he arrives." Dumbledore explained.

"Yes sir." Alice responded.

"You'll leave as soon as the meeting is over. And please do try to get back here as soon as possible." Dumbledore added before moving on with the rest of the meeting.

The meeting ended not long after. Alice got up and said goodbye to a few people before going up to her room.

When Dumbledore restarted the Order of the Phoenix, Sirius Black offered his childhood home, Number 12 Grimmauld Place to serve as headquarters. Dumbledore wanted there to be an Auror on hand so Alice volunteered to move in. At first, it was only her and Sirius living there but soon after she moved in Remus Lupin became a resident and so did many of the Weasley family members.

When she got up to her room, Alice grabbed a few items of clothing and threw them in a magically expanded bag. She wasn't sure if she would be back tonight or not so she decided to play it safe and pack a few outfits in case she had to stay in Romania for longer. Alice knew the old Charlie would agree to join in a heartbeat but she wasn't sure if he was still the same. It had been about three years since the two had last spoken. There was no way of knowing what his reaction to seeing her would be.

She was nervous to see him. There was no denying it. Back when they were still at Hogwarts Alice fell in love with him. There was no way she couldn't. He was always so kind and genuine. He was determined and would stop at nothing to do what is right and to protect those he cared about. He was a prefect, an amazing student, a seeker, and the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. He was easily the most popular person in their year, if not the entire school. Even though she was his best friend she couldn't see him loving her as more than a friend so she never said anything to him. She figured it was better to love him in secret and keep him around as a friend than telling him the truth and having it blow up in her face, losing her best friend in the process. So, she stayed quiet.

When Alice was satisfied with her packing she went back down to the kitchen. There she found Sirius nursing a glass of fire whiskey, Remus reading a newspaper, and Molly Weasley cleaning up after the meeting.

"Molly, do you happen to know the best way to get to the sanctuary Charlie works at?" Alice asked the man in question's mother.

Molly put the rag down that she was cleaning with. "Yes, I believe he mentioned a Dragon's Egg Tavern that has a fireplace you could floo too. It's Wizard owned. He said he usually floos there when he's heading back from a visit. Said it's easier to do that than trying to apparate that far. I'm sure that if you ask someone there they'll be able to give you directions to the sanctuary."

Alice nodded distractedly. "Thanks Molly."

"Are you nervous, Al?" Sirius asked, a teasing gleam in his eye.

"Weren't you nervous about seeing certain people after you escaped Azkaban? I haven't talked to Charlie in about three years and I haven't seen him in even longer."

"Well I was on the run so anyone made me nervous." Sirius pointed out. Normally Alice would have apologized for bringing up the past like that, but she saw Sirius was still joking around with her.

"Oh, you know what I mean. Anyways, I should get going. Hopefully I'll be back soon but in case it takes me longer I'll make sure to owl."

"Good luck." Sirius toasted in her direction.

Alice rolled her eyes before grabbing a handful of floo powder from the pot on the mantle. She threw it in the fire and announced, "Dragon's Egg Tavern, Romania." The green flames engulfed her. Moments later, Alice found herself stumbling into a dimly lit tavern. Looking around, she saw several tables set up around the room, some occupied, others not. There was a bar off to one side of the establishment with a few patrons nursing drinks. Everyone in the tavern looked to be on the rougher side. It was likely that most of these people worked at the sanctuary. Alice walked over to the barkeep who was wiping down the bar.

"Excuse me, sir? Could you tell me the directions to the dragon sanctuary?" Alice asked the man.

The man looked her up and down. "The dragon sanctuary? What does a little lady like you have to do at a dragon sanctuary?"

Alice stared him down. "What I will be doing at the dragon sanctuary is my business."

The man chuckled, appreciating her fire. "Head south for about twenty minutes. The sanctuary is past the trees."

"Thank you, sir."

She walked out of the tavern and started to walk in the direction the bar keep had said. At first the path led through a town but soon buildings turned to trees. Alice continued down a dirt path through some trees using her wand to light her way. About 20 minutes later, just as the man said, Alice came up to a large clearing. Even though it was already getting dark the entire place was bustling with life. There were witches and wizards walking around from one building to another and many people were coming in and out of a large enclosure on the far side of the clearing. The enclosure was made up of large wooden planks reaching up over fifty feet with an occasional watch tower standing even higher. Alice could hear the occasional roar and saw flames and smoke come up over the wall at time. She figured that that's where the dragons were kept.

The entire scene was a bit overwhelming and Alice knew she'd never be able to find Charlie on her own so she stopped the first woman who passed her. "Excuse me, I'm looking for Charlie Weasley. Do you know where he is?"

The woman nodded and pointed the enclosure Alice has just been observing. "I saw him over by the enclosures a few minutes ago."

"Thank you." Alice began to walk toward the wall. Just as she was nearing it, the redhead in question walked through the gate. Her heart stopped. Charlie somehow looked even better than the last time she had seen him. His ginger hair was longer, brushing just past his shoulders. His muscles looked even more defined than they had during the height of his quidditch career at Hogwarts. There were even more freckles covering his face making it look like he had a nice tan. His arms were covered in scars and shiny burn marks. She found herself frozen for a moment just taking his appearance in but suddenly her brain began to work again and she remembered why she was there in the first place. "Charlie?" She hesitantly called out his name.

Charlie looked over towards where he heard the familiar voice. "Alice!" His eyes widened when he saw her. "Your hair is shorter."

Alice raised an eyebrow at him. "We haven't spoken in almost three years and that's the first thing you say to me?"

He walked over and stood in front of her. "Well your hair was always ridiculously long, of course that's the first thing I'd notice."

It was true. Back when they were at Hogwarts, Alice's dark hair always reached down to her waist. However, ever since an incident during one of her cases as an Auror she's kept her hair just past shoulder length.

They stared at each other, neither really knowing what to do. "It looks good though, you look good." Charlie said sheepishly, crossing his muscular arms in front of him. The scars even more visible as his skin stretched.

A light blush tinted Alice's cheeks. "Thanks."

Charlie inhaled. "What are you doing here? It's nice to see you, but like you said, it's been a while since we've been in contact."

Alice looked around. There were still people walking around going about their work. This was no place to discuss sensitive matters like the Order or the oncoming war against Voldemort. "Is there anywhere else we can go to talk? Somewhere private?"

Charlie saw Alice's demeanor change. She meant business. "Yes, of course. Follow me." He led them through the compound to a series of huts. They were set up in rows and looked a bit like barracks. When they reached his he unlocked the door and gestured for Alice to go inside.

It was a quaint space. The door opened into a small kitchen with a living room attracted to it. There was a door that led into a crisp white bathroom and another door next to it led to another room which Alice assumed was the bedroom.

Charlie moved in front of her and began moving some parchment and books around to clear up a space at the round kitchen table for Alice to sit. "Would you like some tea? Something to eat?"

Alice shook her head as she sat down. "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Right." Charlie nodded before sitting down in the chair across from her. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Alice took a steadying breath, trying to collect her thoughts. "I'm sure you've heard about what happened at the final task of the Triwizard Tournament." Alice paused, waiting to see if Charlie had in fact heard of the incident.

He nodded. "They say Harry Potter saw You Know Who come back from the dead. But the Prophet has been saying that it's all a hoax, and that Dumbledore is off his rocker."

"The Prophet is lying. Cornelius Fudge refuses to believe it's true, but it is. You Know Who is back and he's beginning to build up an army again. Which is why I'm here. Dumbledore is starting up the Order of the Phoenix again. Your parents are already a part of it, so are many of the Hogwarts professors, and a few others including myself. I was sent by Dumbledore himself to ask if you'd be willing to join. We need all the help we can get. Dumbledore said that for the immediate future you'd be helping with some things in England but later you'll be able to come back here and help with foreign recruiting. You won't have to quit your job here. You'd only be gone for a while."

When Alice finished speaking the pair sat in silence. Charlie's mind was whirling.

"It's fine if you don't want to join. It'll be dangerous and you'll have to spend less time here in Romania. No one would be angry if you said no. We'll all understand." Alice added.

"But I can't just leave you all to fight this on your own when I know I can help." Charlie was resigned. He knew he would be going back to London with Alice, at least for the time being. "I'll join the Order. I just need a few days here to settle everything before I can go."

"Of course! Take as much time as you need. Well not too much. You Know Who's army is growing larger by the day so we should get back as soon as possible." Alice got up and began moving toward the door. "I'll go find a hotel to stay at. There's one in town isn't there?"

"No that's ridiculous. You can stay here with me. We'll be able to leave as soon as I'm ready."

"A-are you sure? I wouldn't want to get in the way."

"I insist and it's getting late. Some of the men in town aren't of the best variety so it really is in your best interest to stay here at the sanctuary. You can take my bed, I'll sleep out here on the couch."

"Charlie, no. I'm not going to take your bed. I'll sleep out here." Alice put her hands on her hips to show she wasn't going to back down.

"I can't let you sleep on the couch." Charlie insisted.

Alice looked over at the couch. "If you don't want me sleeping on the couch then I'll transfigure it into a bed. It shouldn't be too difficult."

"You've always been a lot better at transfiguration than I was." Charlie admitted.

"Then it's settled." Alice smiled slightly.

There was an awkward silence. Neither one of them knew what to say. Back at Hogwarts, silences were comfortable. They didn't feel the need to be talking all the time, but if they were talking they could go on and on for hours talking about anything and everything. The times seemed to have changed them. They were no longer the inseparable best friends they used to be. Instead they were practically strangers.

Charlie was rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, not sure what to do with himself. "Um, I-I should probably go to sleep. I'll have to get up early tomorrow to figure out who will cover for me when I'm away." He finally stammered.

"Oh yes, of course. I'll work on getting a bed set up for myself. I'll see you tomorrow then?" Alice responded just as awkwardly.

"Right, goodnight." Charlie muttered before practically running into his room.

Alice groaned internally and squeezed her head between her hands. As if her current state of embarrassment wasn't enough Charlie came back out into the living room a moment later. Alice's head shot up as soon as she heard his voice.

"I forgot to mention, the bathroom is right over there and feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen. My mother would kill me if she found out it took me this long to tell you that." Charlie shuddered at the thought of his mother.

A small laugh came from Alice at the mention of Molly Weasley. "She definitely wouldn't be pleased with you, Char." Her old nickname for Charlie slipped out before she could stop it.

Surprisingly, some of the awkward tension went away after she said it. Charlie smiled at her slightly, his eyes seemingly glazed over as if he were remembering something from the past. He whispered another quick goodnight before retreating into his room.

Alice set to work on transfiguring the couch into a bed. After a few tries she finally managed it. Not knowing what else to do with herself Alice changed into more comfortable clothes and tried to go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! I just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who read the first chapter of this story! I really appreciate it :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters and places associated with the story. I'm only responsible for my original character Alice Reed.

Chapter 2

A few hours later, Alice and Charlie were startled awake by loud frantic knocking on the door. Charlie stumbled out of his bedroom and swung the door open.

"The horntail got out." The man at the door said frantically before rushing over to the next hut.

Charlie closed the door and ran into his room, quickly getting dressed.

"Charlie? What's going on?" Alice asked as she pulled on her jacket.

"The Hungarian horntail that we have here got out of its enclosure. That means all hands-on deck." Charlie explained as they walked out of the hut. "She's one of the most vicious dragons we've ever had at the sanctuary."

The pair didn't have to walk far before they saw the commotion. The giant Hungarian horntail had somehow managed to get out of the enclosure and was now making her way through the rest of the sanctuary. She was spitting fire at everything in her path and she was swiping her claws and tail at the witches and wizards who were trying to contain her. The horntail blew fire in their direction. Charlie quickly grabbed Alice by the waist and pulled her behind the nearest building.

Charlie had Alice pressed up against the wall, shielding her from the flames with his body. Thankfully the building protected them so neither of them were burned. "Alice, you shouldn't have followed me. This is too dangerous."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I get the killing curse flung at me nearly every week. I think I can handle a dragon. And it's not like it's just the two of us against this thing. There's plenty of other people around too."

"Exactly, there's other people around, people who are trained for situations like this. Please stay back, I don't want you getting hurt."

"Alright, fine. I'll stay here and I won't move unless absolutely necessary. Now go help them." Alice pushed him towards his coworkers who were trying to subdue the dragon.

For a while, Alice did as she promised. She stayed behind the building, a safe distance from the dragon. However, at one point, the dragon swiped at one of the wizards injuring him badly. Charlie turned to help the man. What he didn't realize was that the dragon had turned to face them, fully intending to roast them to a crisp. Alice saw what was about to happen and she decided she couldn't sit back and watch any longer. She ran out from her safe hideaway and threw up a shield charm just in time, saving Charlie and the man from being burned.

Charlie's eyes widened when he saw her. "Alice! What are you doing?"

"Saving your life. No need to thank me." Alice grunted as she dived out of the way to avoid the dragons tail. She turned back to where Charlie was with his injured coworker. "Get him out of here before he bleeds to death!"

Alice could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins just as it did when she was out in the field working on a case. She threw stunning charms at the dragon just like all the others working to subdue the creature.

It took Alice and about twenty other people including Charlie to subdue the dragon and get her back into her own enclosure. By the end of it both Alice and Charlie were covered in sweat and soot. They were both exhausted by the time they got back to Charlie's hut. When they got inside Alice plopped down in the chair she had occupied earlier. Charlie rummaged through some cupboards before pulling out a bottle of fire whiskey and two glasses. He poured the brown liquid in both glasses and handed one to Alice who took it gratefully. She took a sip letting the burn of the alcohol soothe her.

After a few minutes of silence Alice spoke. "Is this what your job is usually like?"

Charlie chucked and shook his head. "Surprisingly, things like this rarely happen. I know my mother believes that this is what my job is like all the time but it's not. We usually spend our days taking care of the dragons and trying to train or rehabilitate them depending on why they were brought here. In all my years of working here only five dragons have escaped their enclosures. This was definitely the most vicious. You handled yourself really well out there. Especially for someone who's never worked with dragons before." Charlie praised.

"Keeping cool under pressure is part of my job. If I'm chasing after someone or in a fight I can't let my nerves slip at all. If I do I could get killed."

Charlie shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't believe that you became an Auror and that you work in the dark wizards division no less."

Alice shrugged. She was proud of what she had accomplished with her work so far but she never did any of it for praise or to prove that she could do it. She simply wanted to help make the world a better place. When Alice told him this, Charlie chuckled.

"You really haven't changed that much, still as humble as ever."

"What? Did you expect me to change?" Alice questioned.

"Part of me thought I would never see you again. And if we were to meet again this is definitely not the circumstance I would have expected."

"That's fair." Alice said as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"We should probably get cleaned up and go back to bed." Charlie suggested after seeing Alice yawn.

"You're probably right." Alice agreed as another yawn threatened to spill from her mouth. They each took a turn in the bathroom to clean up and soon they were both back in their respective beds and sleeping soundly.

Charlie spent the next day figuring out how to get his position covered for the time he would be away. This left Alice on her own. She was allowed to wander around the sanctuary as long as she promised not to get too close to the dragon enclosures.

At one point Alice was walking among the enclosures and she saw Charlie working with one of the dragons. She stood off to the side watching him work. He was standing in front of the dragon talking to it gently. He would occasionally point to a spot in the enclosure and the dragon would mosey over before looking at Charlie expectantly, to which Charlie would respond by giving the dragon a hunk of meat. Not long after he saw Alice out of the corner of his eye.

"Do you want to meet him?" Charlie asked her while walking closer to her.

"Meet him? I thought I was told to stay away from the dragons." Alice questioned but she couldn't help the excitement that began to rush through her at the thought of being near a dragon again.

"I think you should be fine if you're with me. Come on." Charlie waved her over.

Alice walked deeper into the enclosure and stopped by Charlie.

The dragon seemed to be intrigued by the newcomer. He started creeping closer slowly, as if he were a cat.

"Alice this is Alwyn, he's one of our common welsh greens. I've been working on rehabilitating and training him since he was brought here three months ago because of a broken leg." Charlie explained before turning to speak to Alwyn. "Alwyn, I've brought someone for you to meet today. This is my friend Alice."

Alwyn cocked his head to the side his big eyes gazing at her.

Charlie looked between the two to make sure there was no tension especially coming from Alwyn. When he saw none, he spoke again. "Would you want to touch him? He's the definition of gentle giant."

Alice glanced at him to see if he was being serious. He was, so she nodded.

"Okay, put your hand out and walk slowly towards him. Make sure not to break eye contact."

"Okay." Alice breathed out before she started moving toward the dragon. She looked deep into the large eye that was facing her. There was a kindness within it. Once she got close enough the slowly placed her hand on his snout. Alwyn breathed out hot air before nuzzling into her touch. The move made Alice smile. "Hello, Alwyn. It's very nice to meet you." Alwyn nuzzled into her again.

Charlie chuckled and came up next to her, also rubbing Alwyn's snout. "He likes you."

Alice looked up at him, a look of wonder in her eyes. "I can see why you love this so much. Even though dragons can be dangerous they can clearly be kind and curious too. This is amazing."

Charlie smiled. "I'm glad you understand. Not many people in my life do. As you know, my mum hates my job and she thinks it's too dangerous, and most of my siblings and friends from Hogwarts just think its cool that I work with dragons. They don't understand my love for these creatures." Charlie looked at Alwyn fondly.

"You're going to miss them, aren't you?" Alice asked.

A sad look came across Charlie's face for a moment before he looked at Alice. "I definitely will but I'm leaving for a good cause. And it's not like I'm leaving forever. I'll be back here as soon as I can."

Alice nodded her head in understanding. "Speaking of leaving, do you know when you'll be set to go? I sent an owl to Headquarters this morning to let them know you agreed and that you're tying up some loose ends over here but we should get going soon, I know Dumbledore has some assignments for us."

"I was able to get a lot of things settled today. I just have to talk to whoever will be continuing with Alwyn's training so we should be able to leave this evening."

"Okay. I'll leave you to it then. It was nice meeting you Alwyn." Alice rubbed Alwyn's snout once more before moving to leave the enclosure. "I'll be waiting in your hut."

"Sure. I'll see you later." Charlie acknowledged her without looking away from the dragon.

Alice took her time walking back to Charlie's hut. She let herself enjoy these last few moments for freedom before she would have to go back to London and continue her work for the Order and the Auror office.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone! Once again, I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read my story so far. If any of you have some suggestions or comments feel free to leave a review! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters and places associated with the story. I'm only responsible for my original character Alice Reed.

Chapter 3

The next few hours flew by relatively quickly and soon Charlie was back in his hut packing a bag.

Charlie emerged from his room with a bag slung over his shoulder. "Alright I'm ready to go."

"We can't floo or apparate directly into headquarters so I was thinking we'd floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then I can apparate us closer." Alice explained.

Charlie nodded. They left his hut and walked to the Dragon's Egg Tavern where Alice had flooed to just the other day.

The pair flooed to the Leaky Cauldron and then Alice apparated them to a park right near Grimmauld Place. Once they were in front of where Headquarters was located, Alice pulled out a piece of parchment with the address written in Dumbledore's handwriting from her bag and gave it to Charlie. "Memorize this. You won't be able to get inside until you do."

When they entered the building, Alice shut the door quietly behind them. "Make sure to be really quiet. There's a painting of Walburga Black just down the hall and she likes to start screaming whenever she's woken up." Alice whispered. She led Charlie down the hall and down to the kitchen. It was around dinner time so she assumed most of the house's occupants would be down there.

When they entered the kitchen, Alice found that she was right. Sirius and Remus were sitting at the end of the table closest to the door talking quietly, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny were all sitting together joking around near the center of the table, and Arthur was seated nearest to the stove where Molly was just starting to put food down on the table.

"Hello everyone! Molly, do you have enough food for two more?" Alice greeted the group.

Molly looked over to them and a large smile grew on her face. "Oh, Charlie you came!" She exclaimed and she pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Of course, I came. I want to help in any way I can." Charlie said once he could breathe again.

Molly stood back and looked at her second oldest son. "Your hair is much too long, and when's the last time you ate? Sit, sit. You too Alice. There's plenty of food for everyone." Molly pushed Charlie and Alice down into the chairs closest to them and placed plates piled high with food in front of them.

Charlie spent the rest of dinner catching up with his family. Alice spoke with Sirius and Remus for most of the time but she did listen in on Charlie's conversations every once in a while in hopes to hear more of what his life has been like recently.

Not long after the group finished eating dinner and the plates were cleared away, Albus Dumbledore walked into the kitchen.

"Mr. Weasley. It's nice to see that you've decided to join our cause." Dumbledore greeted.

Charlie stood up and shook hands with him. "I'm happy I can help, Professor."

Dumbledore turned to greet the rest of the occupants in the room before asking them to leave. "I have some things that I need to discuss with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Reed. We shouldn't be too long."

Everyone filed out of the room and Dumbledore took a seat across from Alice and Charlie and began speaking. "As Alice has likely told you Lord Voldemort is back and he's gaining followers daily. The Order of the Phoenix is also recruiting and we're actively working against Voldemort. We've had some members trailing possible Death Eaters. Tonight, I will need you two to be on watch at the Malfoy Manor. I have reasons to believe that there may be a gathering there tonight. You will go there and watch any activity at the house. Alice, you know what to do. I expect a full report at tomorrow's meeting. If there's even a chance of someone catching you get out of there immediately. We can't risk losing anyone."

Alice nodded in understanding. "Would you like us to leave now?"

"The sooner you leave the better. I will see you both tomorrow. Good luck." Dumbledore said goodnight and left the room.

Charlie exhaled. "Wow. My first day here and I already have an assignment."

Alice looked at him. "You think you're up for it?"

"If you're there with me I should be fine." Charlie said sincerely.

Alice smiled at him before standing up. "We should go change into darker clothes so we have a smaller chance of being seen."

She led them up the stairs to the floor her room was on. Molly was just leaving the room that was across the hall from Alice's. "Oh, has Dumbledore left already?" She asked them once they made it onto the landing.

"Yes, he's sending us on an assignment. We'll be leaving as soon as we change clothes." Alice explained.

A look of worry flashed across Molly's face. She was happy her son was back in England but the situation wasn't the best. "I've just finished cleaning out a room for you. Alice can show you were the bathroom and everything else is once you get back."

Charlie smiled at his mother. "Thank you, Mum."

"Alright I won't take up any more of your time. Be careful you two. I expect you both back in one piece." Molly said before heading downstairs.

"Let's get changed and we'll head out." Alice said before heading into her room.

A few minutes later they met up on the landing and together they walked downstairs and left the building to go on their mission.

The next few months went on much the same. Dumbledore had Alice and Charlie work together to gather information about possible Death Eaters. They ended up being some of the most up-and-coming members of the Order. Many of their missions ended up being successful and they were able to provide a lot of useful information to the Order.

As time moved forward and they spent more time together, Alice and Charlie found themselves slipping back into the familiar rhythm of friendship that they hadn't felt since their days at Hogwarts.

One day, Alice and Charlie were trailing a pair of Death Eaters in a small wizarding town out in the countryside. Alice, being a trained Auror was specially trained for such missions but unfortunately the only stealth training Charlie had was the things that Alice told him over the few months of working together. He was relatively good at staying hidden and not giving away that he was following someone but there were some days that he would slip up and give away their location. Today was one of those days.

The Death Eaters began attacking them in a secluded back alley in the town. Since it was two against two Alice fought one Death Eater and Charlie took on the other. All was going well until the Death Eater Alice was fighting managed to hit her with a disarming spell which caused her wand to fly out of her hand and land off to the side, too far for her to reach especially with the Death Eater advancing on her. She looked around, desperately hoping Charlie was somewhere close to help her but when she locked eyes on him he was in the middle of a duel with the other Death Eater. Thinking fast she threw herself behind a stack of crates for cover just as a curse flew past her.

"Do you really think some boxes will protect you?" The Death Eater asked, his footsteps coming closer to her hiding spot. "Dumbledore is really out of his depths if he thinks he can defeat the Dark Lord with amateurs like you on his side."

As the Death Eater was monologuing, Alice decided to climb up the crates. Without her wand, she figured she'd have a better chance of getting out of this alive with an element of surprise and attacking from up above would do just that. When the Death Eater got close enough to the crates she jumped down and landed on his back wrapping her arms and legs around him. She managed to knock his wand out of his hand so it was no longer a threat but the man was much bigger than her still making it an uneven match. Alice moved her arms to encircle the man's neck attempting to choke him but as soon as she tightened her arms he moved backwards and slammed straight into a wall causing Alice to lose her grip. She fell on the ground and quickly rolled away just as he made to kick her. When she got up she used her small stature and speed to avoid the punches he threw at her before she threw her fist forward and socked him in the jaw. The man stood there in shock for a moment, not believing that she hit him but that didn't last long. He threw another punch and ended up hitting Alice's face. She could feel blood spill from her lip but she didn't let up. She managed to punch him in the face and throat a few more times. The skin on her knuckles split open from the force of the punches.

At this point, Charlie subdued the Death Eater he was fighting with a full body-bind curse. He quickly looked around to find Alice and he was in shock by what he saw. She was still fist fighting the Death Eater who landed another punch to Alice's face at that moment. He ran toward her, his wand at the ready. "Alice! Get out of the way!"

Alice ducked another punch but instead of moving away like Charlie said she charged at the Death Eater. He wasn't expecting the move so she was able to knock him down. The two scrambled on the ground for a moment before Charlie got in range and shot a body-bind curse at this Death Eater too.

Once the Death Eater was still, Charlie helped Alice off him. She was panting, there was blood flowing out of her lip and her knuckles, her hair was a tangled, and her clothes were rumbled and torn in some places. Overall, she looked like a right mess.

"What the hell was that?" Charlie demanded, not understanding why a talented witch like Alice fought a Death Eater without her wand.

"He disarmed me and there was no way I could get my wand back in time so I improvised. I'd say I did a pretty good job." Alice explained breathlessly. They both looked down at the Death Eater she had fought. His face was covered in blood and it looked like his nose was broken.

Instead of starting an argument about reckless she had been, which he desperately wanted to do, he walked away from Alice and sent a patronus to Headquarters so someone could come take care of the Death Eaters since Alice wasn't fit to help him. When he was done with that he went over to Alice and apparated back to Headquarters once they found her wand. He helped her inside but she could tell he was upset with her by how tense he was. He led her down to the kitchen. A few gasps could be heard when the occupants of the room saw the state of Alice's face.

"What the bloody hell happened to you?" Ron asked.

Charlie clenched his jaw before heading further into the kitchen "Alice got into a fist fight with a Death Eater." Charlie snapped as he rummaged through the freezer.

Alice started to laugh in amusement but the cut on her lip pulled open again causing her to wince. Just then Charlie returned to her side and placed a frozen steak on the side of her face where a large purple bruise was beginning to form. Alice winced again at the cold but soon relaxed when it started to numb the pain.

"Alice, do you think this is funny? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I could have been killed even if I did have my wand in hand!" Alice countered. "And anyways, you saw what he looked like after I was done with him. He looked way worse than I do."

"Alright, off to bed you lot." Molly cut in before their argument got out of hand. "Alice, you stay down here, I'll see what I can do about that cut."

At that, everyone filed out of the kitchen including a still fuming Charlie. Molly used a few healing spells on Alice's face to take down the swelling on the bruise and to fuse the cut in her lip.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Molly asked once she was done healing Alice's face.

Alice nodded and placed her hands on the table showing the split skin and blood on her knuckles. "Some of my ribs on my right side might be bruised as well."

As Molly continued using healing spells Alice sighed and put her head in her hands. "He's really angry, isn't he?" She asked referring to Charlie.

Molly smiled gently at the young woman next to her. "I don't think I've ever seen him so angry but I think he was just worried. Just talk to him. I've been married for a long time and I know that good communication is necessary for a successful relationship. I truly believe you'll be able to work things out if you explain what happened."

Alice glanced over at Molly, "Thank you."

"Not at all, dear. I'm happy to help." Molly reassured her. "Alright that's about all I can do for tonight. Go get some rest."

Alice nodded and began to make her way up to her room. When she got up to her landing she was about to head into her room but thinking about Molly's words made her pause. Molly had been right, communication is an important part of any relationship and if they were going to continue going on missions for the Order they would need to talk through what happened sooner rather than later.

Alice turned away from her room and walked across the landing to Charlie's door. She knocked on the door a few times and softly called out, "Charlie? Can we talk?" Moments passed by and she could hear Charlie pacing in the room but he didn't move to the door. She exhaled deeply and rested her forehead on the door. "Look Charlie. I'm sorry. You were right. I should have moved back. It was reckless of me to take him on. I just got lost in the moment. I reacted instead of thinking."

A few more moments of silence passed. Alice began to turn away figuring Charlie was still too angry to talk but the door opened behind her.

"You don't need to apologize. You did the best you could in the situation." Charlie said.

Alice turned back to face him. "You think so?"

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Yes. Honestly I probably would have done something similar if it had been me in that situation."

Alice continued to look at him. She was surprised by the way this conversation was going.

"Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. It just scared me when I saw you fighting without a wand to protect you." Charlie continued.

A small smile made its way on her face. "It's okay. How about the next time one of us messes up we just sit down and talk about it?"

"That's probably a good idea." Charlie laughed. "You should get some rest. My mum did a good job healing the cut and bruises on your face but you must be exhausted."

"Okay. Goodnight then Char." Alice said softly.

"Goodnight, Alice. Sweet dreams."


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! This story has gotten over 300 views already and I'm so amazed. I've been writing this story for myself and when I decided to post it I never thought this many people would read it so thank you so much! If any of you have some suggestions or comments feel free to leave a review! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters and places associated with the story. I'm only responsible for my original character Alice Reed.

Chapter 4 

"Alice! Alice wake up!"

Alice jolted awake and nearly knocked heads with Charlie. The room was dark, signaling that it was still night but she could see that Charlie was distressed. "Charlie what is it? What's wrong?" She asked him as she placed her hands on his cheeks.

He grabbed onto her wrists tightly. "It's my dad. He was attacked while he was on watch tonight. Dumbledore is downstairs speaking with Mum. He brought Ginny, Ron, and the twins from Hogwarts."

Alice nodded. Any sleepiness she had been feeling moments ago was gone as soon as she heard Arthur was hurt. "Alright, let's go downstairs to the others. Maybe get you some tea to calm down."

Charlie let go of her so she could put on her dressing gown before they went down to the kitchen.

When they got downstairs the first thing they noticed was a hysteric Molly. She was sitting at the table crying her eyes out while Ginny tried to comfort her although she also looked like she was near tears. Fred, George, and Ron were also sitting at the table. All of them had grim expressions on their faces. Sirius and Remus were also down in the kitchen. Dumbledore was down there just as Charlie said but he was getting up to leave. "Molly, you can go so St. Mungo's as soon as you're ready, Arthur should be with the healers now. I must go to the Ministry. I'll come back with more news as soon as I'm able to." He said his farewells and left the room.

Alice squeezed Charlie's hand before going over to the stove. She spent the next few minutes making a pot of tea for everyone. She hoped it would help calm everyone down a bit.

The tea did seem to help calm everyone a bit but all the Weasley's were distressed. Mr. Weasley was the core of their family and hearing that he was hurt made the dangers of this upcoming war so much more real.

When Alice finished her tea, she got up and began clearing away some of the empty dishes she then went over to Molly and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "Molly, would you like me to go pack you a bag with some clothes. I'm sure you'd like to go to Arthur as soon as possible."

Molly tried to smile up at the young woman. "That's kind of you, dear, but that won't be necessary. I'll go change and head over to St. Mungo's with Charlie."

Upon hearing that only the elder Weasley would be accompanying their mother to the hospital the four younger Weasley's began arguing.

"No." Molly's stern voice broke through their raised voices. "It's likely that no one will be able to see your father for a while. I will send Charlie to fetch you as soon as we get any news. Now off to bed all of you."

The four of them hung their heads in defeat before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs as their mother asked.

"Don't worry Molly. We'll look after the kids until you look back." Sirius spoke up although everyone left in the room knew that if he were the only one in charge nothing would get done and no one would be fed.

"Everything will be fine Molly. Go get ready and get to your husband. The healers at St. Mungo's are the best in the world. Everything will be fine." Alice reassured her.

Molly nodded in thanks and left the room to get ready. Remus and Sirius soon left as well leaving Alice and Charlie alone in the kitchen. Charlie exhaled deeply and rested his head on the table.

Alice placed a hand on his back and rubbed it in soothing circles trying to comfort him, she hated seeing him so upset.

After a few moments of silence Charlie finally spoke up. "This war is feeling so much more real now. First you got hurt a few weeks back and now my father is in St. Mungo's. I don't even want to think about what else we'll have to go through before all of this is over."

Alice had been thinking about this a lot lately. Although she found the situation surrounding her own injuries amusing at first, she did realize how serious this war was becoming. "It's terrifying that the world has to deal with You Know Who again but with all of us working together with Dumbledore I think we have a chance."

Charlie looked up at her with a small smile. He was about to say something when Molly came in. "Are you ready to go Charlie?"

He got up and nodded.

"I'm not sure when I'll be back. Like is said earlier I'll send Charlie with any news." Molly told Alice.

"Alright. Give Arthur my best once you can see him."

Molly smiled at her. "I will. Thank you for everything Alice."

Alice shook her head and smiled back at the kind woman. "There's no reason to thank me. Now go."

Charlie waved at her as he followed his mother out of the room.

Number 12 Grimmauld Place was a flurry of activity over the next few weeks. Harry and Hermione came to live at the house again for the holidays, the Weasley's were in and out of the house quite often as they went to visit Arthur at the hospital, and many more Order members began staying for dinner after meetings to share the holiday spirit and to avoid the cold winter air a little longer. Even though the shock of Arthur's injuries was still fresh there was a renewed sense of hope and joy that filled the house. Whenever Molly saw someone in the house who wasn't working on something important she would rope them into decorating for Christmas. The decorations brightened up the dark dank house and almost made it feel like a home. Even Sirius, who had been in a foul mood since summer ended was happily walking around and humming Christmas carols.

Arthur was able to return home, just in time for Christmas. Everyone was overjoyed, Molly most of all. In anticipation for her husband's return, she cooked the most elaborate Christmas dinner anyone had ever seen.

Once everyone was positively stuffed they began to exchange gifts. Alice tore the wrapping paper off one of her gifts and immediately laughed at what she saw. Inside was a package of cauldron cakes and a handwritten note that said, 'Try not to eat all these at once, we know how that will end - Charlie'.

A few people looked over at Alice, clearly interested in her reaction.

Alice glanced over at Charlie and saw that he had a mischievous look in his eyes. He clearly knew that she had opened his present. "Charlie, you arsehole." Alice said with a laugh while shaking her head at him.

At that Charlie began to laugh too.

At this point, everyone was looking between the two of them. "Alright what's so funny you two?" Fred asked, wanting to be in on the joke.

When Charlie finally calmed down he started explaining. "Back in third year Alice claimed that she could eat more cauldron cakes in one sitting than me. So of course, we decided to put that to the test. We bought out all the packages of cauldron cakes from Honeydukes and then had a cauldron cake eating contest in the Gryffindor common room. It was the event of the year."

"Was she right? Did she win?" Ron questioned.

"Yes, I did. I ate fifteen cauldron cakes and Charlie only managed thirteen." Alice said proudly.

"And then she proceeded to throw all of them up on McGonagall's shoes when she came up to see what all the commotion was about." Charlie added with a smirk on his face. By this point the entire party was laughing.

Alice's cheeks started burning red so she hid her face in her hands. "Merlin that was embarrassing. It took me weeks before I could look her in the face. Sometimes when I talk to her I still think she remembers it. It's terrible."

After the story, everyone got back to opening their gifts. Alice picked up the cauldron cakes to move them aside when she noticed that there was something underneath them. Underneath was a picture of her jumping on Charlie's back after a quidditch game. They were both laughing and occasionally Charlie would spin them around in a circle. Alice looked up from the picture and looked at Charlie, catching his eye. "Thank you." She said quietly.

Charlie smiled at her gently.

The rest of the party flew by in laugher and happiness. By the end of the night everyone was stuffed full of delicious food and their spirits were much higher than they had been in a while. Slowly people started excusing themselves to go to bed, including Alice and Charlie. They gathered their gifts and made their way upstairs.

Charlie turned to Alice when they reached their floor. "Thank you for the dragon figurine you got me. It's beautiful."

"You're welcome. I can tell you've been missing your dragons a lot lately. I thought it'd be nice for you to have a reminder that you'll be going back to them."

Just as they were about to head into their respective rooms, Alice turned back around. "Hey Char? Where did you get the picture?" Alice asked him. She remembered the day clearly, Gryffindor had just won a match against Slytherin and the entire house was ecstatic. They celebrated until the early hours of the morning. But what she didn't remember was taking this picture.

Charlie turned back around to face her. "Remember Thomas was really into photography that year?" He paused and waited to see if Alice remembered their old friend from school. Once she nodded he continued to speak. "Well I saw him developing this one so I asked if I could keep it. I figured it was about time you got a copy."

Alice rolled her eyes but she still had a smile on her face. "You could have given me a couple years ago, you know."

"I could have. But then what would I have given you for Christmas this year?"

Alice laughed before her gaze softened. "Well I'm glad you waited. It was a perfect gift." She felt a small surge of confidence wash over her so she walked over to Charlie and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Happy Christmas Charlie."

The kiss surprised Charlie. It shocked him into a spell that didn't break until he heard Alice's door shut. "Happy Christmas, Alice." He whispered into the empty hallways before retreating into his own room.

A few days later Charlie found himself sitting in the kitchen with his mother. They somehow got on the topic of Alice.

"Why don't you ask her out? She'd be good for you. She's smart, beautiful, one of the kindest people I've ever met, and she has a real job." Molly asked her son.

"Mum, she's an Auror. Her job is just as dangerous as mine. It's actually worse because people throw curses at her left and right sometimes. I just have to watch out for fire and maybe a claw or two."

"Well at least she's making a decent wage. But really Charlie, why aren't the two of you together? It's clear that you both care for each other."

Charlie sat there for a moment and really thought about why they weren't together. "I've been in love with her since we were 16, but I've always been scared that she doesn't feel the same way." Charlie finally admitted.

"Charlie..." Molly started but she was quickly cut off.

"No, Mum. Look, she's greater than life and it would kill me if I lost her again. And anyways, there's a war starting. This is no time to be starting relationships when we don't even know if we'll survive to the next day."

"That's exactly why you should. We need to cherish every happy moment we can because we don't know what the future will bring."

"I supposed you're right."

"I am right. I'm your mother."

Charlie smiled at his mother and turned to walk out of the kitchen. A new determination washed over him. He was going to go find Alice and tell her exactly how he feels. What he didn't expect was to find Alice standing just outside the kitchen with a few tears making their way down her cheeks.

"Alice!" Charlie started.

"Charlie Weasley, you complete dolt." Alice grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down, placing a searing kiss on his lips. She pulled away after a few moments and looked up at Charlie. His eyes were half lidded from the intensity of the kiss. "Why didn't you tell me you love me? I've been in love with you for years too."

Charlie's eyes widened. His mind couldn't believe the words that had come out of her mouth. "You love me too?" Charlie asked, almost in disbelief.

Alice nodded. "Yes, of course I do. How could I not?"

A few happy tears fell out of Charlie's eyes before he moved forward and engulfed Alice in a hug, spinning her around in the hallway.

Alice laughed at his reaction. When he placed her back on the floor they just stood there staring into each other's eyes with huge matching grins on their faces.

Charlie placed his hands on Alice's cheeks. The way he looked at her took her breath away. There was so much love in his eyes and she realized that she'd seen this look a few times before but she had never realized what it meant until now.

"I love you so much Alice. I'm sorry it took me so long to admit it." Charlie said after a moment.

"I love you too, Charlie. And I should apologize too, I've kept my feelings for you a secret for so long."

Charlie smiled at her and began to lean down to catch her lips in another kiss.

"Finally!"

The pair quickly split apart as soon as they heard the voice. They looked over to the stairs and saw Ginny standing there with a large smile on her face.

"I was starting to think you'd never get together." She didn't even let them say anything before she was making her way back up the stairs. "Fred! George! You both owe me five galleons. Charlie and Alice just kissed!"

Grumbling could be heard from upstairs. Alice buried her face in Charlie's chest in embarrassment. "I can't believe they had a wager going about us."

Charlie chuckled and wrapped his arms around her small frame bringing her closer. "I'm not surprised by that at all."

They stayed in each other's arms for a moment longer before heading upstairs to Alice's room to get some privacy.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello Everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to finish this chapter. Once again, if any of you have some suggestions or comments feel free to leave a review! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any characters and places associated with the story. I'm only responsible for my original character Alice Reed.

Chapter 5

"Why did we stop talking?" Charlie asked as they were sitting in Alice's room one day a few days after they finally declared their love for each other. Charlie had been wondering why they stopped keeping in contact for quite some time but he hadn't felt comfortable enough to ask her until now.

The question surprised her. She thought about what had led up to the last time they spoke all those years ago. "When you got a girlfriend, I couldn't keep talking to you. It hurt too much." Alice finally admitted.

"I only got a girlfriend because you said you didn't want to date anyone!" Charlie exclaimed.

What Charlie just said surprised her even more than the question itself. "When did I say that?!"

"About three years ago I asked if you had made any new friends or if you were seeing someone special and you said you don't have time for things like that. You said that your work comes first. I took that as a hint that you wouldn't want to be with me or anyone for that matter so I finally said yes to the girl at the sanctuary who had been asking me out. I said no before because I was in love with you and couldn't see myself with anyone else but by that point I figured I might as well try dating someone else to see if I could get over you. It didn't work. Clearly." Charlie explained, though he sounded a bit exasperated towards the end.

Alice rolled her eyes. "We're both idiots." She couldn't believe it took them so long to get together all because of some miscommunication.

"That we are." Charlie laughed.

Alice took both of Charlie's hands in hers. "Let's promise that we'll tell each other everything. No more assuming things. We need to communicate if we want this relationship to work."

Charlie gave her a questioning look. "That sounded suspiciously like my mother."

Alice smiled sheepishly. "Your mum may have given me some advice about communication in relationships when she was healing my face a few weeks ago."

That admission made Charlie laugh again. "She's had a big role in getting us together hasn't she?"

"Yes." Alice answered as she pulled one of Charlie's hands up to her lips to place a gentle kiss on his knuckles. "But if it weren't for her we would still be dancing around our feelings and who knows if we would ever get together."

Charlie pulled Alice into his arms and he leaned his head against hers. They signed, both feeling themselves relax into the hug.

"I'm glad she noticed how we felt and finally talked some sense into me." Charlie said.

Alice looked up at him with a happy sparkle in her eyes. "I'm glad too."

The next few months went by like normal, at least as normal as things could be when one was in the Order of the Phoenix and working against He Who Must Not Be Named. Charlie and Alice continued going on missions to follow suspected Death Eaters, and they helped keep watch over the prophecy in the Department of Mysteries that Dumbledore was determined to keep away from You Know Who.

On one rare day that Charlie and Alice both had off the pair were sitting in the library at Grimmauld Place. Alice was sitting on the couch looking through some papers from work while gently running her hand through Charlie's hair as he lay with his head in her lap.

"We should go on a date." Charlie said suddenly, disturbing the quiet that had settled in the room.

Alice looked down at him with a questioning look on her face. "A date?"

This prompted Charlie to sit up and face her. "Yes, a date. We've been together for a few months now but with all our missions for the Order and your work as an Auror we haven't exactly had a time to go out on a proper date and just be together. This is one of the first days we've had off in months. We might as well make use of it and go do something to get our minds off everything that's been happening."

Charlie's explanation made Alice smile. "That sounds wonderful, Charlie! What did you have in mind?"

Charlie ignored her question and hopped off the couch, pulling Alice out of the room behind him.

They wandered around the streets of London for a while just enjoying each other's company. Neither of them remembered feeling this care free in a long time.

Once it was getting dark out Charlie led them into a building. They went up a few flights of stairs and when they walked through the set of doors at the top they found themselves on at rooftop restaurant filled with tables, twinkling lights all around, and a beautiful view of the Thames.

Alice looked around in wonder. The atmosphere was very romantic and it seemed to be a wizard owned establishment judging by the clothes of the other occupants on the rooftop. "Charlie, this is amazing. How did you find this place?"

Charlie smiled at her as he led her over to one of the unoccupied tables. "I like to wander around the city when I'm not on a mission and you're at work. I randomly found it a few weeks back and I've been waiting for a chance to bring you here."

He pulled out one of the chairs and made a dramatically gestured for Alice to take a seat. "Milady."

Alice giggled and then curtsied just as dramatically. "Why thank you kind sir."

Throughout dinner both Alice and Charlie couldn't keep smiles off their faces. At one point Charlie stopped talking and just stared at Alice with a small smile on his face and a loving look in his eyes.

Alice noticed this sudden shift in her boyfriend. "Why are you staring? Do I have something on my face?" Alice questioned with a laugh.

This made Charlie smile wider. "No, you're perfect." After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "Even though there's a war starting I honestly can't remember the last time I've been this happy and it's all because of you. I can't even explain how happy I am that you're back in my life."

Charlie's admission made Alice's heart melt. "I love you Charlie."

Charlie grabbed Alice's hand and squeezed it. "I love you too Alice. More than you know."

"Oh, I think I may have an idea."

After they were done with dinner they wandered around for a bit longer before hearing back to Headquarters.

When they got back the pair was surprised to see a few Order members in the kitchen besides Molly, Arthur, and Remus. Tonks, Kingsley, and Mad Eye Moody along with a few others were gathered around the table.

"What's going on?" Alice asked. "I didn't think we had a meeting today."

Her mentor from work, Alastor Moody turned to look at them. "There was no meeting today, Reed. We just came from the Ministry. Potter and a few of his friends were lured to the Department of Mysteries but You Know Who. We were informed by Severus Snape so we went to help unfortunately Sirius Black was killed in the fight."

Hearing about Sirius's death crushed them but it also made Charlie angry. Hearing that someone from their side had died hit him harder than he thought it would.

"You should have sent someone to get us! Or at least sent a patronus! We could have helped!" Charlie exclaimed.

"That's not something for you to decide Weasley." Moody countered, clearly annoyed that he was being yelled at.

"Charlie!" Alice scolded. "Don't yell. What's done is done and there's no way of changing the past." With that Alice stormed out of the kitchen and ran upstairs to her room.

Alice fell back onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling, not sure what to do with herself. She had gotten quite close to Sirius in the year that she was living in Grimmauld Place with him. She would even consider him to be a close friend at this point. They would often joke around and share stories of their times at Hogwarts while drinking fire whiskey. It was difficult to believe that he was gone. Thinking about these memories opened a floodgate of tears that Alice had been holding back from the moment she heard the news.

Not much later Charlie found himself knocking on Alice's door. There was no answer but when he heard a sniffle from inside the room Charlie let himself in. He saw Alice curled up in the middle of the bed, her shoulders shaking as she cried. Charlie's heart broke to see the love of his life so upset. He walked over to the bed and laid down behind her and pulled her into his arms. She quickly turned around and buried her face in his chest, letting Charlie comfort her.

The following days were solemn and one day Alice and Charlie's moods were dampened even more. Charlie was informed by Dumbledore that he was free to return to Romania and to start work on making foreign contacts. When they heard that Charlie and Alice locked themselves in Alice's room.

Neither of them knew what to do or say so they just laid there on the bed. Alice with her head on Charlie's chest and Charlie had his arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, both of them lost in their thoughts.

On one hand, Charlie was overjoyed that he would be able to go back to his home in Romania to be with his dragons. On the other hand, he was heartbroken. Things were going so well between him and Alice. He felt that their relationship was strong enough to handle long distance but no part of him wanted to leave her.

Alice was feeling much the same. She knew Charlie was missing his job and itching to get back to the sanctuary, but she also didn't want him to leave. Seeing him every day made all the bad things happening in the world seem a little less terrible. He brightened her life more than she ever thought someone could.

"Come with me." Charlie spoke suddenly.

"What?" Alice questioned, lifting her head off his chest to look him in the eye.

"Come with me to Romania. We can live in my hut at the sanctuary. You could floo to the Ministry for work or you could work on making contacts when I'm with the dragons and I can help you on my days off. I'm sure Dumbledore will be okay with it, he's been saying we need more people to help us." Charlie looked deep in her eyes as he explained. He seemed almost frantic. "I can't imagine being without you, Al."

Alice was silent. Somehow her brain hadn't even considered going to Romania. But the more she thought about it the more she liked the idea. This way she could be with Charlie every day and she could keep her job as an Auror for the Ministry. At that moment, Alice wanted to thank whoever invented floo powder for making this possible.

"Alice?" Charlie said. Her lack of response worried him and he began to question if his proposition had been a bad idea.

His voice startled her out of her thoughts. "Right! Sorry! I got lost in my thoughts."

"I could see that." Charlie responded with a small smile. "So?"

"So... I'll go with you to Romania because there's no way I'm letting you go now that I've finally got you." Alice informed him, her smile growing as she spoke.

The second those words left Alice's mouth Charlie rolled them over so he was hovering over her and started peppering kisses all over her face. Once he got the initial excitement out of his system, Charlie looked at her again with a gentle grin on his face. "I love you Alice, more than anything."

"I know you do and I love you too."

The following week all of Alice's things were packed up and sent to Romania.

They spent the next year living in Romania together. Alice would floo to the Ministry to continue her work as an Auror and Charlie worked at the sanctuary. On their days off they would go around Europe meeting with foreign contacts and doing other work for the Order. Even though the war was still going on they found that they had a happy little bubble there in Romania where they could just be together and be happy. However, their bubble burst when they heard the news of Albus Dumbledore's death.

This was honestly a bit of a filler chapter so I apologize if it wasn't too good. I promise I have some more cute moments coming up in the next chapter. Once again thanks for reading!


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